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courtney khail

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Courtney Khail | Southern Watercolor Artist (photo by Elle Golden)

Hi, I'm Courtney.

I'm a Southern contemporary artist currently living in Athens, Georgia with my husband and our rescue mutt. Here you'll find a peek into what inspires me, new pieces I'm working on, and a whole lot of random thoughts. (Oh! And for those curious, my last name is pronounced “kale”.)

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I wish you could see this one in person- the depth and details and layers are just remarkable. Framed in a gorgeous natural, maple frame, “Fruit Snack” is the featured painting for Day 6 of my 12 Days of Christmas Sale!

Seriously, it&rsq
This is one of my absolute favorites so I’m kind of surprised I’m letting it go! Created in part by melting “paint popsicles”, Day 5 of my 12 Days of Christmas Sale is: Balloon Animals!

Part of my Sugar & Vice Collection-
I see you swooning over there about my full color floral pieces! (I get it. They’re beautiful!) Well no more standing on the sidelines because today is your day to get one of those stunning pieces up on your wall.

Day 4 of my 12 Days of Christ
FRAMED original art for less than $400? Yep! All thanks to Day 3 of your favorite 12 Days of Christmas Sale. (Basically like the greatest advent calendar there is without any pieces of disappointing chalky candy.)

Today’s painting? ASHES No. 2
I wish you could see this one in person- the depth and details and layers are just remarkable. Framed in a gorgeous natural, maple frame, “Fruit Snack” is the featured painting for Day 6 of my 12 Days of Christmas Sale!

Seriously, it&rsq This is one of my absolute favorites so I’m kind of surprised I’m letting it go! Created in part by melting “paint popsicles”, Day 5 of my 12 Days of Christmas Sale is: Balloon Animals!

Part of my Sugar & Vice Collection-
5 reasons to shop local (and not just on small business Saturday, because once a year just doesn’t cut it.)

1)You know you’re getting something special and one-of-a-kind (hand written thank you notes, beautiful packaging, and absolutely
I see you swooning over there about my full color floral pieces! (I get it. They’re beautiful!) Well no more standing on the sidelines because today is your day to get one of those stunning pieces up on your wall.

Day 4 of my 12 Days of Christ FRAMED original art for less than $400? Yep! All thanks to Day 3 of your favorite 12 Days of Christmas Sale. (Basically like the greatest advent calendar there is without any pieces of disappointing chalky candy.)

Today’s painting? ASHES No. 2


Sketching for OF A FEATHER- Courtney Khail

Sketching for OF A FEATHER- Courtney Khail

Sketching

November 10, 2020 in From the Studio

I’ve had a sketchbook in handle for as long as I can remember. It sounds like a cliche to say that, but I really don’t remember a time I wasn’t sketching something. When I was incredibly young, I assume the majority of those “sketches” were more abstracted scribbles, but as I grew, I started to study drawing books more, tried drawing from life, etc. By the time I was in high school, art was what I did. To be fair, it wasn’t hard for me to study art because I had attended a fine arts school magnet school starting when I was ten until I graduated. (And as it was made painfully aware thanks to required ballet classes, I was NOT very gifted in the art of dance. I also lacked the ear for the violin- which I can in fact play- but I was never any good at tuning my instrument without help.)

I was always at home with art though. That clicked. My head matched my heart-which through some glorious combination of patience, talent, and magic-translated through my hands.

That said though, rarely does anything just “come out perfectly” the first time. It’s like my brain is faster than my hands- if I don’t work out my thoughts, everything gets muddied, like a crude translation of a language you barely can speak.

Which is why I sketch. To strengthen those muscles. To make it so natural that it’s essentially just muscle memory. No thought required. Some people journal, but my brain usually goes too quickly for words (which is why you’ll only see snippets of thoughts if you ever look in my sketchbook. Probably why I enjoy poetry as well.) Line work though? My lines can keep up with my brain. My hand can translate my thoughts onto paper- of course it’s normally in a short handed version that only I understand.

This is a page from the third go round of sketches for my upcoming series OF A FEATHER. You can see things beginning to take shape- morph into their final form. What you can’t see are the colors in my head- those usually only come out when the watercolor touches paper.

← OF A FEATHER artist statementAre you living your truest life? →
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